Most wagering games are each ultimately associated with some prize distribution which defines the probability of winning a given prize in the game on a given play. For example, mechanical and video reel-type games, commonly referred to as “slot machines” are generally each associated with a number of different prize levels which are each associated with some result in the game. Some of the results are associated with a prize at one of the available prize levels, while other results represent losing results which are not associated with any prize to the player. Each of the prize levels is associated with a probability of achieving the result at that particular prize level. This probability may be expressed in terms of some number of times a result at that prize level is expected to be achieved over the course of some number of plays in the game. For example, a given reel-type game may be configured to award a top prize once every million plays at the gaming machine, and lesser prizes more frequently.
There are a large number of ways in which the result may be identified for a given play in a game. Many modern reel-type games, for example, employ some result identifying algorithm that is designed to identify results at the frequencies defined by a desired result distribution for the game. Continuing with the example in the previous paragraph, the result identifying algorithm for the reel-type gaming machine may be designed to identify the top prize an average once every one million plays at the gaming machine. The result identifying algorithm may be implemented using an unalterable processing device that is certified to identify results according to the desired result distribution. This unalterable and certified processing device, which is typically located in a secure location in the gaming machine, helps ensure the game operates as intended and that the probabilities of obtaining the various prizes available in the game are not surreptitiously altered.
Electronically implemented instant lottery systems provide another way to assign results in various types of game presentations. A “game presentation” as used in this disclosure refers to the symbols and graphic representations used to communicate a result to a player. These electronic lottery systems are sometimes referred to as “video lottery” systems because they commonly show the result of a play in the lottery game on a video display device at the player terminal. In an electronic lottery gaming system, such as the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,733,385, the results are identified by a set of electronic lottery records (also referred to as “lottery game play records”). The set of electronic lottery game play records is analogous to a set of printed paper lottery game tickets. As with individual tickets from a set of printed lottery tickets, individual lottery game play records may be assigned from the set of electronic lottery game play records in some random order in response to requests for plays in the lottery game. However, the result defined by an assigned electronic lottery game play record is displayed at an electronic lottery player station rather than on a printed lottery ticket. As in traditional paper lotteries, the rules by which the set of lottery records is created for an electronic lottery game determines the overall prize distribution for the game. For example, an electronic lottery game set may include one million records, with one record associated with the top prize, ten records associated with a next highest prize, and so forth throughout all of the potential results available in the lottery game set. Thus, the overall probability of obtaining the highest prize in the lottery game set is one in one million, and the overall probability of obtaining one of the next highest prizes is ten in one million (one in one hundred thousand).
Some sweepstakes games are similar to lottery games in that the results in the sweepstakes game may be identified by sweepstakes records that are produced in sets similar to lottery ticket sets or electronic lottery game play record sets. A difference between lottery games and sweepstakes games is that sweepstakes games are not wagering games and do not require a player to place a wager in return for a play in the game. Rather, plays in sweepstakes games are given to a player typically in association with the player's purchase of some good or service. For example, a purchaser may be given one play in an instant sweepstakes game for the purchase of a soft drink. As another example, a purchaser may be given some number of plays in a sweepstakes game for the purchase of each minute of Internet or computer access time at an Internet café. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/365,058 provides an example of a sweepstakes gaming system in which results are identified through sweepstakes game sets made up of sweepstakes game records similar to electronic lottery game play records.
Yet another way to identify results for display at an electronic player station is to conduct a bingo game between two or more players. U.S. patent application publication No. 2004-0152499-A1 discloses a bingo gaming system in which each play entered at a player station enters the player in a bingo game. The various bingo game entries (that is, game play requests) are quickly grouped in the system shown in this published patent application, a bingo game is conducted, and the results in the game for each player are returned to the respective player terminal. The result may be displayed at the player terminal by a suitable game presentation, which may imitate play in a card game, a traditional reel-type game, or some other game.
In the case of a bingo game, a desired prize distribution may be produced by mapping one or more bingo patterns to each prize level so that the overall probability of achieving any bingo pattern mapped to a given prize level is approximately equal to the desired probability of awarding the prize at that prize level. This mapping of bingo patterns to produce a desired prize distribution is shown for example in U.S. patent application publication No. 2004-0048647-A1.
Prize distributions implemented through result identifying algorithms, lottery game sets, sweepstakes game sets, and bingo games have previously been unalterable. The only way to implement a different prize distribution for a particular game was to replace the result identifying arrangement for the game. In the case of a game in which results were identified by a result identifying algorithm, this required changing or reprogramming the processing device used to implement the result identifying algorithm. In the case of games in which results are identified from a set of game play records, such as some lottery games and sweepstakes games, the only way to replace the result identifying arrangement was to replace the set of game play records built according to the desired prize distribution. In the case of games in which results are identified from conducting bingo games, the only way to replace the result identifying arrangement was to change the mapping between bingo patterns and the various prize levels or otherwise change the rules by which prizes were identified from the underlying bingo games. All of these processes for replacing the result identifying arrangement were cumbersome and costly. Also, these prior processes did not allow for temporary changes in a result identifying arrangement to accommodate various promotional prizes that could be desirable to a game provider or operator.